The Closest Companion
by Gambit508
Summary: After having to leave behind another companion, the Doctor wanders the TARDIS musing about past companions and their effects on him.


**Anyway this is a short Doctor Who…thing I guess which came to me randomly and I decided to write down…..**

**Enjoy I guess?**

* * *

Lonely.

It was a feeling he had grown to know quite well over the past several centuries. 900 is what he told people, truth was he had forgotten his age long ago. One of the side effects of growing old, what was it they always said on Earth? First your memory, then your hearing?

The Doctor tapped the console of the TARDIS lightly, his fingers inches from inputting a new destination. Course he could always let the TARDIS choose for him, but there didn't seem to be any chance of that happening. He ran a hand through his dark hair, brushing his bangs from in front of his face. It was always hard when it was time to say goodbye. For someone who might be losing his memory, he couldn't seem to forget any of them. Not that he particulary cared to.

He moved away from the console as he looked toward the door of the Tardis, it's familair window frame being one of the few things that never changed. He ignored the view, some old English countryside that he had parked her while he gathered his thoughts. It was a nice view, but he wasn't in the mood for traversing the wonderful scenery of the lovely planet he was on.

The Doctor sighed as he thought back to his first companions, though the term was to be used very loosely in this term. He was rougher in his youth, less likely to negotiate, especially with what he had belived to be simpler folks..bordering on primitives.

"And what exactly is the point of a window on this thing anyway, explain that Doctor" a tall charming man dressed in a fine suit said as he pointed a finger at the Doctor. Not the young looking man he was now, the Doctor was old and gave off the appearance of a grandfather with his dark suit and cloak. He glanced over at the man, Ian Chesterton, with a look that bordered on annoyance, much like one would have with a flying insect.

"Hmmmm, it's quite simple my boy. A window is to look outside, that is after all the purpose of one. I assumed you would know that" he said, clicking his tongue in slight disgust as Ian shot the Doctor a glare, and walked toward the older woman toward the back of the room who was watching the confrontation with slight worry.

Ian and Barbara were always ready to get off, and to be honest he couldn't blame them in retrospect. He had kidnapped them from their homes, but luckily things turned out better for them. They even got married, he had made it to the wedding in one of his later incarnations, though he doubt they remembered the young blonde man near the back of the crowd.

He turned away from the window as a meter flashed across the console, rushing to it he shot a glance at the meter before pulling a nearby lever, the meter going back down to normal. He pressed a nearby button as the TARDIS braked. He couldn't belive he had forgot to turn that one, he wasn't used to being the only one keeping an eye on things.

"Jamie, could you do me a favor and tell me if that meter is below five-point-oh-three?" the Doctor stammered, his apperance being one of bowl cuts and a suit that better fitted a hobo that a well travelled man of science. Jamie, a brunette highlander from old Scotland, rushed to the meter as the console room shook, the two of them grabbing onto the main console for support.

"It's still below four Doctor, but she's rising fast. Should we do something?" Jamie asked, looking to the Doctor for guidance. Jamie McCrimmon was like a son to the Doctor, a young lad with a good heart who was always ready to help. Unfortunately, that exact same character trait that made him a wonderful companion also led to his death after he destroyed a Worldshaper, a horrible device that aged poor Jamie to death.

The Doctor clenched his hand tight, the only thing harder than watching them go was when they died. He knew all of them died eventually, he had been to every funeral. He felt it was only right, after all.

Though some funerals were harder than others.

Especially the ones for old friends.

"Doctor, I think you've spent enough time tinkering with that thing for today. This is a matter of importance and we need your ...specialized knowledge" the mustachioed soldier called to the open door of the TARDIS as it sat in a small goverment lab. Brigadier Alistar Lethbridge Stewart was a man used to giving orders to people and being given orders to, both cases resulting in said orders being followed, and the Doctor's refusal to fall into either category both irked and amused the Brigadier. The Doctor finally poked his curly white head of hair out as he brushed off his latest velvet suit coat, a hunter green this time, as he looked at Brigadier over that prominent nose of his.

"I believe you will find that matters of importance are highly overrated in the long run, Brigadier. However I will help, I simply had to reverse the polarity of the ..."

"Yes, yes, we have no time for that. A man has been murdered, and I'm afraid it isn't your average stabbing." the Brigadier interuppted as he handed a photo to the Doctor who took it swiftly. The Doctor glanced at the photo as a slight grimace flashed across his face.

"That is not good at all, Brigadier. You say this is the only one?" The Doctor asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the U.N.I.T. soldier. The Brigadier nodded as the Doctor tapped his chin. "Then we might not be too late.

In the present, the Doctor looked up from his musings, he had wandered into the wardrobe which also now contained a rather expansive greenhouse and a small pile of Transfomers from his past. The Brigadier had died rather recently and unfortunately the Doctor hadn't made time to see him before. While as a Time Lord, time was for the most part an irrelevant concept, it felt wrong to simply go back to a time before his death and see him.

The Doctor wandered through the wardobe as he stumbled over a large ball of yarn that was in the middle of a long scarf left half knitted in the wake of something that the Doctor honestly couldn't remember. Probably some form of alien invading London. They did that a lot.

The scarf encirled the mannequin it was on like a multicolor mummy as the Doctor ran a hand over the fabric as if it was an old pet.

"You know the scarf does look rather silly" Romana said as she looked up from the console, her blonde hair framing her cute face in that weird way that made the Doctor remember what made her one of the more likeable people he had travel. He looked down at his outfit, a long coat dwarfed by the veritable python of a scarf that hung down in large loops. Running a hand through his tumbleweed of curly hair, he shot Romana a grin.

"Silly is good, if we didn't have silly, then where would we be? We'd be serious all the time, and who wants that. It's so boring..." the Doctor responded as he chewed on one of the jelly babies hidden in the multiple pockets of his coat. "Anyway this scarf was made by Madame Nostradamus herself and has helped me in multiple occasions. Don't understimate somethign just because it seems silly. That's rule number seven."

"I thought rule number seven was never park the TARDIS in the middle of a busy intersection during rush hour." Romana asked as the Doctor gave her a knowing wink.

"So it is, Romana. So it is. Then this is the new rule seven."

"That could get confusing"

"Ah, but that makes it more fun"

The Doctor moved past the scarf as he wandered further through the wardrobe, as his right foot suddenly struck something long and hard. Wincing slightly, the Doctor bent down to pick up the responsible perpetrator. A cricket bat, long and flat and well worn from the looks of it. The Doctor mimed some swings as he looked down toward the end of the room.

"It's actually quite easy once you have the hang of it. A wonderful sport, you meet such lovely chaps playing it." The Doctor spoke, his young blonde youthful face grinning as he held the cricket bat, his outfit completing the image of him as a young cricket player.

"I still think it sounds rather rubbish if you ask me" the young Australian brunette woman said as she watched the scene from the side. the Doctor glanced at her in slight bemused exasperation. "It does, sorry."

"You'll see, I'll get all of you playing if it's the last thing I do." the Doctor said as he wagged his finger at Tegan, the grin on his face ruining any semblance of a threat he had. "Now Adric, the goal of the game is very simple, all you have to do is..."

In the present the Doctor froze, his skin numb as he dropped the bat to the ground and wiped the tears from his face. He hadn't expected that patricular memory to come up. Adric, poor Adric. Other companions had died before sure, all the way back to Kataria, but Adric...Adric's had hit him hard. That wound still wasn't healed...and he didn't know if it ever would be.

The Doctor moved away from the clothes, passing by a multicolored coat, a question mark handled umbrella, a green victorian coat, a rumpled pile of jumpers and a worn pair of trainers as he entered the greenhouse. The smells of the different alien plants did their best to calm him down as he ran a hand across a small case containing a blue plant that turned to look at him as he passed.

"Oh, Doctor, it is wonderful" Peri said as she took in the wonders of the greenhouse. "Have you had this here this entire time and only now told me?" she glanced at the multicolored blond man beside him. Said man smiled confidently as he tapped Peri on the nose.

"Now, now Peri. If I had told you earlier than it wouldn't be much of a surprise, now would it." The Doctor said as he led the talented botanist down toward a small area of the room. "I believe these would be an rather unique challenge for one such as yourself."

"And what is that supposed to mean exactly?" Peri asked indigantly. The Doctor only smiled as Peri turned back to the plants, small blue like flowers with closed petals. "They look like tulips." she said as she reached a hand toward the the flower.

The flower snapped toward her, causing Peri to bring her hand away quickly. "Careful, they're carnivous plants." the Doctor added helpfully. "Mofati Davoias, they have been known to literally destroy someone's heart."

"and you keep them in the TARDIS?" Peri questioned

"Well they're perfectly safe if you feed them daily and don't expose them to the gasses of Tumblos Five. It has a tendecy to make them more likely to destroy a man than usual."

"Oh, is that all. That's perfectly fine" Peri smirked as she looked back on the plants.

The Doctor tosssed a small bit of meat from a tray to the side of the Mofati Davoias as it chewed on the morsel. The Doctor watched the small plant finish it's meal as he smiled. The Mofati held simple lifes, one of surival. Simple was something that he had lost a long time ago.

A loud explosion rocked the area, sending the Doctor to the ground. He rushed toward the source of the explosiona as a few more rocked the area.

"Ace, no explosives" The Doctor, shorter and wearing a odd question marked sweater vest under his white coat pointed toward the leather jacketed, ponytailed teenage girl who was, just as the Doctor had thought, shoving a veritable army worth of explosive devices into her bag.

"Aw, Professor. Knowing you, we're probaly going to need them." Ace argued as the Doctor shook his head as he gestured at the open door. Ace rolled her eyes as she waited for the inevevitable response.

"We are here on vacatation as a moment of peace, and there won't be any fireworks at the end so you can leave your destructive toys behind." the Doctor said as he glanced at the explosive in slight distate. He was never one for typical weaponry, best weapon was the mind and it had served him well these past nine hundred centuries.

"When we take a break, we always run into trouble Professor. It's like fate or something. Can't I take at least a few, just in case." Ace responded, holding up two of said explosives as she gave the Doctor that look that said I'm right but you don't want to admit it because it makes you look bad

The Doctor rubbed the bridge of his nose as he sighed in defeat. There was no arguing with her. "Fine, I couldn't stop you anyway. You are a stubborn girl, Ace. It could prove you well if you used it correctly."

The Doctor in present day, rushed to the source as he brushed away the smoke from the console, coughing slightly as he glanced at the loud beeping signal warning of the engine trying to run while braked. "You don't suppose you could of told me that before the explosions?" The Doctor called out as the warning seemed to beep faster in response.

The Doctor felt the console beneath his hands, as he smiled widely. Tapping the console fondly, he switched off the brake as the familair noise echoed throughout the room.

There was one companion who he never had to leave behind, who was always there with him.

The Doctor grasped the controls of his closest companion as he set a course for the coordinates the TARDIS had set. A new adventure awaited him at the other end, and who knew maybe even a new companion.

* * *

**Yes I know I didn't do flashbacks for 8-10, I was running out of ideas toward the end and I couldn't think of anything for them. I apologize to their fans, they are just as wonderful as the rest of the Doctors and their companions are some of the best. I may go back and redo this, and if so I will add them in. **


End file.
